ArchiveMadonna will only date men her children “respect and admire”

Madonna (Photo: Janet Mayer / PR Photos)

Madonna will only date men her children “respect and admire”. The 52-year-old singer – who has daughter Lourdes, 15, with fitness trainer Carlos Leon, sons Rocco, 11, and David, six, with ex-husband Guy Ritchie, and adopted girl Mercy, five – is currently in a relationship with dancer Brahim Zaibat and thinks it is important she looks for someone who can be a good role model, particularly for her boys. She said: “It’s important that my children admire and respect this partner that I would choose for myself. Especially for my sons, who have their father but they need a male role model as well.

“So I need to keep this in mind: What is this person modelling to my sons, what kind of man is he, what values does he have, what energy is he giving off? Because they are impressionable. It’s so important.”

Madonna and Lourdes launched their clothing line Material Girl last year but the ‘Hung Up’ hitmaker always makes her daughter put her education first.

She told the new issue of Harper’s Bazaar magazine: “I say to Lourdes, school work always comes first, so anything that gets in the way of that falls by the wayside. We put our energy in education.”

The ‘W.E.’ director also admitted she “constantly apologises” to her kids because of the unwanted attention her fame brings them.

She said: “The other day, I was out on the street with Lourdes. She wasn’t feeling well and had a fever. She was wearing her tracksuit bottoms and her T-shirt, and she turned around and was like, ‘Ugh, there’s a paparazzi, and I look like s**t.’

“I felt for her because, I thought, this is an extra layer. It’s already a challenge to have a teenager, then to have a teenager in New York City, and on top of that, she’s the daughter of someone famous.

“It’s a lot. I’m aware of it, and I constantly find myself apologising for it. But it also provokes many discussions with us about what’s real and what isn’t real.”